Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Canada census 2011: Toronto’s suburbs are still booming

The city on Toronto’s outskirts grew by a whopping 56.5 per cent to 84,362 residents between 2006 and 2011, according to new Statistics Canada figures released Wednesday.

Whitchurch-Stouffville, another suburban Toronto community, rang in at number three with a 54.3 per cent jump to 37,628 residents.

Statistics Canada released its first batch of data from its May, 2011 census and it reveals that several Toronto-area cities were the stand-outs in a period when most Ontario towns and cities grow at slower than average rates.

But even Milton is cooling off compared to the last census when it had grown 71.4 per cent.

Brampton also grew significantly, up 20.8 per cent to 523,911. Mississauga was up 6.7 per cent to 713,443.

Toronto stood at 2,615,060 residents, up 4.5 per cent, with growth focused along the waterfront, the downtown core and several pockets across the city.

The Toronto census metropolitan area, stretching from Oakville to Ajax grew by 9.2 per cent to 5,583,064 residents.

This census shows a change in the growth pattern in the Greater Toronto Area, said Jane Badets, director general of social and demographics statistics with Statistics Canada.

Unlike the 2006 census, which showed growth happening on the suburban periphery, the latest counts show the growth happening closer to Toronto itself.

“It’s shifted down slightly, it’s come in closer to what we call the central municipality, around Markham and Richmond (Hill),” she said in an interview.